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When the artist Richard Hunt conceived Harlem Hybrid, a welded bronze sculpture on a traffic island at West 125th Street, he intended for it to blend in with its surroundings: the triangular plaza it sat on, the church across the street, the street itself.

What he did not expect was for the abstract piece, which was installed in 1976, to become so much a part of the environment that during the 1980s, homeless men took to sleeping under it, flames from barrel fires scarred it, and urine oxidized it before its time.

Despite its prominent place in Roosevelt Triangle — where 125th Street, Morningside Avenue and Hancock Place intersect — the 5,500-pound sculpture was nearly invisible to passers-by, hidden by graffiti and overgrown shrubbery. In a neighborhood that had more pressing problems, the sculpture was allowed to slowly corrode.

Read the rest of this story: New York Times

Additional resources: NYC Parks :: NYC Parks Page ::